Friday, September 15, 2017

bloomberg | Vikram Pandit, who ran Citigroup Inc. during the financial crisis,
said developments in technology could see some 30 percent of banking
jobs disappearing in the next five years.

Artificial
intelligence and robotics reduce the need for staff in roles such as
back-office functions, Pandit, 60, said Wednesday in an interview with
Bloomberg Television’s Haslinda Amin in Singapore. He’s now chief
executive officer of Orogen Group, an investment firm that he co-founded last year.

“Everything
that happens with artificial intelligence, robotics and natural
language -- all of that is going to make processes easier,” said Pandit,
who was Citigroup’s chief executive officer from 2007 to 2012. “It’s
going to change the back office.”

Wall Street’s biggest firms are using technologies including
machine learning and cloud computing to automate their operations,
forcing many employees to adapt or find new positions. Bank of America
Corp.’s Chief Operating Officer Tom Montag said in June the firm will
keep cutting costs by finding more ways technology can replace people.

While
Pandit’s forecast for job losses is in step with one made by Citigroup
last year, his timeline is more aggressive. In a March 2016 report, the
lender estimated a 30 percent reduction between 2015 and 2025, mainly
due to automation in retail banking. That would see full-time jobs drop
by 770,000 in the U.S. and by about 1 million in Europe, Citigroup said.